Cursed: Out of Ash and Flame by E.C. Farrell (epub e ink reader .txt) 📕

a boy about our age bent over a sketchbook at a long wood table a few feet away from our landing spot. Fear pricks my skin as he lets out a choke of a gasp and nearly topples off the bench he’s sitting on. Black eyes bugging, the kid jumps to his feet and sprints toward us with a sort of serpentine grace.

Pulse racing, I clench my fists, senses on full alert. This kid is a vampire if I ever saw one. And a pureblood, at that, based on his features. This doesn’t make him necessarily stronger than the rest of his kind, but I’m not about to drop my guard.

When Max steps in front of me and lifts his hands, the other boy stops. “Max. You’re alive. What ... how...?” He threads his fingers through his sandy blond hair, then gestures at me. “Who’s this?”

“Good to see you alive too.” Max grins then pulls the other kid into a hug.

“Thanks to Case,” the kid says. “You should have seen her take down my dad with her magic. It was epic.”

With a final — albeit gentle — shoulder slap, Max steps back, a little misty. “You’ll have to tell me about it after we survive our mission to clear my name.” He flips a hand with that trademark flourish. “Fee this is Jeremy. A pureblood vampire, Chupacabra, Sigbin, Lilitu, whatever. Choose your urban legend designation. I prefer to call him a chupacorn because he’s so rare.” Jeremy’s cheeks flush even as Max rambles on, gesturing to me. “This is Fee. Phoenix, fighter, and epic bounty hunter.”

Jeremy flinches, fangs denting his lower lip.

Max continues quickly. “She’s helping me. It’s all complicated on all the sides. We’ll explain all the things later because right now we don’t have a lot of time. I need something from my room, then I need to find Elaxi.”

I can’t contain the stressed out laugh that busts out past my lips. Complicated is the biggest understatement of all time. There’s no possible way this jumpy kid is going to let this slide. I bounce a little on the balls of my feet, anticipating a bit of a verbal struggle.

Jeremy, however, simply kneads his forehead with his graphite-smudged fingers. “I have questions. Way too many of them. But they can wait if you’re in a rush. Come on.”

We follow him through one of the two doors on the other side of the table and into a small bedroom. Twin beds stand in the far corners separated by a chest of drawers. As Max digs under one of the mattresses, I study the space, gaze falling on a scuffed violin to my right. Reaching out, I touch the smooth wood, a part of me longing to hear music thrum from its strings.

“You should hear him play.” Jeremy says it in a whisper, but I still flinch in surprise.

Releasing a slow breath, I watch Max crouch to search under the bed. “He’s pretty good, huh?”

“He’s the G.O.A.T.”

I narrow one of my eyes. “Care to translate for a chick from the fae realm?”

Jeremy snickers. “Greatest of all time. When I first got here, I had a real bad case of insomnia. Nightmares and stuff. So, he’d play for me.” His cheeks flush from the bottom up. “Kind of sounds cheesy when I say it out loud, but it helped.”

“Not cheesy.” I shake my head, my back tingling where Max rested his hand last night. “I’m no stranger to insomnia. At some point you’ll do anything to get solid rest, to stop feeling like reality’s about to break.”

Twisting a loose string on the hem of his shirt around a finger, Jeremy hums. “You got that right.”

“Found it!” Max leaps up, holding a peeling book in the air.

“Perfect.” I whip my hand away from the violin and stuff it in a pocket. “Now let’s go find that witch friend of yours.”

Crossing the room, Max slaps Jeremy on the arm again. “Do me a favor, huh? Let Kia and Ash and the rest know I’m okay. I’d tell them myself, but like I said, I’m in a bit of a time crunch.”

“Wait.” I throw up a hand. The two boys look at me, both with similar expressions; brows hoping toward hairlines, eyes a little wide. “If you tell them Max is safe, they might tell the Amazons, and if they stop chasing Yaritza, we’re in trouble.”

Max winces. “Good point, mama.” He claps Jeremy on the shoulder. “Think you can keep it under the lid for a little while longer?”

“No problem, man.” Jeremy’s gaze cuts to me, sharp and coal dark between narrowed lids. I almost back away from the intensity of his stare. “Keep him safe.”

I crack my knuckles with a thumb. “That’s the plan.”

12.

MAX BAMFS US FOR THE millionth time today, this time out of The Mercury Room and to a long block filled with mobile homes, all in various shades of shabby. The one we land in front of, however, is whimsically gorgeous. Wide windows span the long front porch of the tiny house, and windchimes fill the air with gentle song.

After so many hours of tension, the sound soothes my raw nerves, calms my racing heart. I scan the street for potential danger. Finding nothing but a pair of residents mowing their lawns, and a little girl walking a rat pretending to be a dog, I follow Max up the wood steps. He lifts a hand to knock but the glass door slides open before he can make contact. A woman with long dark hair and wearing an overabundance of gemstone bracelets smiles from the threshold.

She reaches out to cup Max’s face with both hands. “You’re here. And alive at that. What a pleasant surprise. And who is this young phoenix you’ve brought with you, love?”

My shoulder blades lock together as anxious nerves return to quiver in every muscle in my body. So far, Max’s people have been quick to listen to him, but with every new meeting that could change.